Carb monitoring? Is 450 a good number? How many carbs do you eat on a daily basis?

Hey, I started weightlifting about a year ago and I really love it. I go to the gym three times a week with a personal trainer and I workout three times a week by myself. Now i'm trying to focus on changing my diet. My personal trainer told me that I need to eat 450 grams of carbohydrates a day, and I'm wondering if that's a good number. I'm 135 pounds and would like to gain 15 pounds in three months. What would you guys suggest I do?

Also last problem i'm a college student on a budget. If you eat four times or more a day how much money would you estimate you spend on groceries?

Check out the Paleo diet. Paleo has no calorie or carb restriction as long as the food is natural and primitive. That is, no man made food. Fruits and veggies rather than man made bread, pasta chips and cake. Also no processed sugar but all the natural fat you can eat. The chemistry works out that it's muscle building rather than fat building.

I've been trying to drop weight, just fat not muscle weight. So my carb intake is no more than 125g a day. Paleo is a pretty good option, but sometimes I use meal replacement packs. But I still try to keep them at a minimum. Keep in mind that you will probably feel a pretty substantial drop in energy if you lower your carb intake. Carbohydrates are your body's preferred energy source.

louder_and_louder saidI've been trying to drop weight, just fat not muscle weight. So my carb intake is no more than 125g a day. Paleo is a pretty good option, but sometimes I use meal replacement packs. But I still try to keep them at a minimum. Keep in mind that you will probably feel a pretty substantial drop in energy if you lower your carb intake. Carbohydrates are your body's preferred energy source.

Ultimately, it depends on your fitness goals.

Nope. Cholesterol is the body's preferred fuel which is why Paleo diet is a high fat diet. Once your body is burning fat again they you won't be storing it anymore. Sugar is the cheap fuel source that is destroying this country's health and bankrupting the health care system. Read Dr. Cordain's Paleo for Athletes.

When I diet to get very lean, I'll eat about 75 to 150 grams of carbs a day (with two a day workouts), and occassionally go as high as 600.

If I'm seeking to gain, I'll do as much as 1200 grams of carbs. Carbs are protein sparing.

Your body, by evolution, goes into famine mode if your diet is too restrictive, and...becomes a fat storing machine. However.... you can make yourself less, or more, accustomed to carbs. Too much insulin / sugar is not healthy, and WILL make you fat, but, if you lift every day, those carbs will burn right out under load.

To get very lean, one often has to throw in cheat days to keep the metabolic rate up, even with T3/T4, and AAS.

Generally speaking, you'll want to eat small meals often and train most days, say...taking 1 day off in every 7, and, on that day not lifting, but, doing something like HIIT. Age, and rest (sleep) levels affect all this, too.

I can get lean on as much as 600 grams of carbs as day. Because carbs drive insulin (the shuttle hormone) carbs, are, by default, anabolic. When you come to an understand of how to manage insulin, and realize its role in the shuttle..you'll make great gains. That intake amount point varies on a whole list of factors: genetics, current lean muscle mass, type of exercise, stress levels, t3, stimulant use, etc., ad nauseam..I.e., what's right for me may be completely off for you.

If your goal is mass, or exercise performance, carbs are a very important part of the equation. Where your point is, though, may be completely different from someone else. If you are weight training, and doing HIIT, you NEED to gobble down calories to make gains. If you are casually lifting 3 days a week, well..then you have to cycle carbs on the days you exercise. Specifically, bringing up carbs, post workout, and leaving them down when you're inactive. (Insulin, glycogen, anabolism, are what you need to study.)

While you're at it, research the role of poly and mono fat. It's important to your cardiac health, and HIIT is essential in conditioning your heart.

I'm 54, and...I can take my heart rate to 115% for 20 minutes. You can improve your heart health in as little as 7 4 minutes sessions a week, and improve your EKG, in as few as four HIIT sessions. For intense exercise, you NEED carbs, to a degree, or you'll drag. If you're a competitive bodybuilder, dragging yourself through lifting and cardio can become very challenging on low carbs, but, it's how folks get so very lean (stimulants and magic mix). If you're training for gains... EAT. Just stay away from the really fast / sweet stuff, except for post workout. Post workout, load with 30 to 60 gram of fast carbs, and about 60 grams of slow carbs, on up to 400 grams of slow carbs. You'll have your best luck fueling up post workout with plenty of water, some fast carbs, about 40 to 60 grams of protein. You should study up on on how to get good fat in there, too. Non-post workout meals, you should be getting good fats, and not so heavy on the carbs.

It is realistic to gain a pound a week, without doing anything super special. We put 85 pounds on roommate Logan in just 5 months (Logan is a type 1 diabetic and has an insulin pump, so... we had lemons and made lemonade.)